Conductors
Naama Nazarathy Gordon
Conductor, Composer, Singer, Teacher
Ms. Nazarathy Gordon earned a double B.A and an M.A in orchestral conducting under Dr. Yevgeny Zirlin and in voice under Ms. Marina Levitt at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. During her studies, she earned a scholarship from the International Board of Governors and was able to complete further studies in choral conducting under Aharon Harlap and in composition under Slava Ganelin
In 2002, Ms. Nazarathy Gordon founded the Thalamus Quartet, a vocal quartet specializing in varied styles of a cappella singing. She has performed with the quartet at many events and venues, including the Youth at the Center concert series, the Etnachta concert series at the Jerusalem Theatre, the Israel Festival, the Recanaty Hall at the Tel Aviv Museum, the Abu Ghosh Music Festival, the Kfar Blum Music Festival, and others. Many of the performances were broadcast on the Voice of Music radio station and on Israeli television
As a solo singer, Ms. Nazarathy Gordon has performed many twentieth and twenty-first century pieces, such as song cycles by the composers Tsippi Fleischer, Yehezkel Braun, Osnat Netzer, Orit Gurel, and Shai Hemel, as well as a modern electro-acoustic piece by Eric Chasalow
Her own compositions were awarded debut performances at the Israel Festival, in collaboration with the Revolution Orchestra, and at the Jerusalem Music Center. She took part as composer and actor in the play, “Her Story,” a Jerusalem Theatre Company production directed by Gabriella Lev
Ms. Nazarathy Gordon has worked as conductor of the Hallel Choir at the Hebrew Union College, the Singale Ensemble at the External Studies Institute of the Music Academy, the Midreshet Emunah ve-Omanut Choir, the brass and woodwind Ensemble of the Jerusalem Music Academy High School, the Oratorio Singers Choir, the General “Klalit” Choir of Jerusalem Oratorio, and the Hebrew University Choir in Jerusalem
Since 2005, Ms. Nazarathy Gordon has been a faculty member of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, and has been teaching music at the Hebrew Union College (HUC) since 2009. As of 2021, Naama serves as conductor and artistic director of the student choir of the Levinsky Institute for Education in Tel Aviv. She has served as the musical director and conductor of the Capellatte Choir of Jerusalem Oratorio since 2014
Rinatya Nessim
.Rinatya Nessim, b. 1990, Israel
.Choral conductor, singer and vocal trainer, residing in Jerusalem, Israel
A graduate of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance (JAMD) during the years 2012-2018, in the faculties of Vocal Performance (BA & MA) and Choral Conducting (BA). Graduated in singing in the classes of Mrs. Marina Levitt and Dr. Ido Ariel; and in choral conducting, in the class of Prof. Aharon Harlap, under the supervision of Prof. Stanley Sperber and Mr. Oded Shomrony
Choir Master of the Oratorio Singers choir, the first choir of Oratorio Jerusalem (2022 – now), previously led by many well-known choral conductors in the professional musical scene in Israel; and of the Ramot Tsion Conservative Synagogue Choir in Jerusalem (2018 – now), previously led by Mrs. Penina Schwartz
Vocal Trainer in the External Studies Unit of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance (2019 – now), as well as the main vocal trainer of children and youth with outstanding talent in the Jerusalem Choir Center (“Mami” – ממ”י) in Beit HaKerem, under the management of Mrs. Zina Gladun. There, Rinatya accompanies the youth in their professional endeavors as young performers, as well as teaches group studies in music theory
As a soloist Soprano, Rinatya won 1st place in the ‘Ada Brodsky’ Lieder context (2016); participated in the finals of the Concerto Context in the singing category (2018)
A recipient of the Keren Sharet scholarship in Classical Song (2014-2016) and Baroque Song (2018-2020). Performed the role of Mutter (mother) in Humperdinck’s “Hänsel und Gretel” in the JAMD production (2018)
Occasionally, Rinatya is invited to perform as soloist with the Oratorio choirs – Jomelli’s Requiem, performed by Oratorio’s ‘Bel Canto’ Choir, under the baton of Mr. Assaf Benraf (2018); and Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, performed in a joint concert of the ‘Capellatte’ choir (of the Jerusalem Oratorio Choirs) and the ‘Adi’ choir, led by Ms. Naama Nazarathy-Gordon and Mr. Oded Shomrony, respectively
For a short period of half a year, Rinatya also served as Producer in Oratorio Jerusalem (2021)
Daria Goloushkina
Daria Goloushkina is a choral conductor. Born in Leningrad in 1989.
She graduated from the Saint Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, where she studied choral conducting in the class of Valentin Nesterov.
From 2011, she worked as the conductor of the Sotis Choir at the Saint Petersburg University of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Between 2013 and 2022, she was the principal conductor of the Collegium Cantus Chamber Choir in Saint Petersburg.
In addition to her conducting work, she was an active singer with the Festino Chamber Choir.
Since 2022, Daria has been based in Israel, working in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
She is currently the conductor of the Bel Canto Choir in Jerusalem, an assistant conductor with the Moran Choir and
Was an active member of Bertini Chamber Choir in Tel Aviv,
Daria is also participating as a guest choir singer in a productions at the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv.
Daria’s artistic credo is rooted in the idea of mutual listening as the heart of choral music — a space where individual voices grow into a conscious and unified musical organism.
Assaf Benraf
Assaf Benraf is an Israeli conductor, singer, and translator born in Bat Yam and a graduate of the Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Conducting from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and a Master’s degree in Conducting from Pennsylvania State University in the United States. Benraf began his musical journey as a violinist and violist before transitioning to vocal performance, where he performed as both a soloist and a choral singer under the batons of renowned conductors, eventually establishing himself in the field of conducting. Throughout his career, he has been awarded excellence scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, the Gary Bertini Scholarship for choral conductors, a grant from the “Tzfunot Tarbut” association, and scholarships from Pennsylvania State University. In 2018, he was a finalist in the Luigi Mancinelli Opera Conductors Competition in Orvieto.
Currently, Benraf serves as the conductor of the Jerusalem Oratorio Chamber Choir and the choral conductor for the vocal programs of the Israel Sinfonietta Beer Sheva. His professional background includes conducting various ensembles and orchestras, such as the Israel Chamber Orchestra and the Dorot Choir, as well as serving as the Chorus Master of the Israeli Opera from 2019 to 2023, where his work consistently earned critical acclaim. Among his notable projects are the Israeli premiere of Niccolò Jommelli’s Requiem and the recording of the album “Cremonus in Italy,” featuring the works of Scott Slapin for viola ensemble. In addition to his musical endeavors, Benraf is a prolific poetry translator whose work from various languages has been published by leading Israeli houses such as Hakibbutz Hameuchad, Ahuzat Bayit, and Hargol. His forthcoming projects include translations of Giuseppe Ungaretti, Salvatore Quasimodo, and Eugenio Montale for the anthology “Visible, Invisible,” as well as translations of Giuseppe Gioachino Belli and Carlo Porta for the Hebrew edition of Primo Levi’s “The Search for Roots.”